Archive for March, 2010

In Luke 22:19 Yeshua (Jesus) says “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me” While many may associate these words with what is commonly referred to as “communion”… that is not at all what the Master had in mind. He was not instituting something new…He was instead observing thePassover as instructed by His Father in the Law of Moses and teaching us to keep it as a “memorial” to Him. In Luke 22:15 Yeshua says “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer…” Paul too reminds us to keep this feast in 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 when he says “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Today when a family who loves Messiah keeps the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, they are doing more than simply obeying God. They are living out God’s Word, experiencing His redemptive plan in a real way and teaching their children that Jesus (Yeshua) was that spotless Lamb of God who became our Passover sacrifice. They are teaching their children that by applying His blood to our hearts, we too are “passed over” from death to eternal life. By recalling the deliverance from slavery to Egypt, they remember and give thanks for the fact that as followers of Messiah we have been delivered from the bondage of sin! By observing the instruction to remove leaven and eat unleavened bread for seven days His followers are reminded that Jesus was without sin…without leaven… He is the Bread of Life! We learn that while redemption has come…we still need to work at getting the “sin” (1John 3:4)) out of our lives. Trying to clean our houses of every last bread crumb paints quite a picture for the Believer. It’s not easy.

Now the hard part… Why do Christians celebrate Easter? Speaking for myself I can say it was ignorance. I had no idea that I was following after the traditions of the Catholic Church. With a little research you will find that years ago the Roman church…in an attempt to distance themselves from anything Jewish…declared that the pagan celebration known as Easter should be “Christianized” and be observed in place of Passover. Mixing things of pagan origins in with the worship of God, or “syncretism” is strictly forbidden inDeuteronomy 12, but that is exactly what they did. It was also declared by these so called “church fathers”… and is currently accepted and practiced throughout Christianity… that Jesus was crucified on “good Friday” and rose again on “Easter” Sunday morning. Question…is that what Scripture teaches? No, and in fact we were given a sign to watch for concerning this very issue to help us recognize false messiahs and false teachings. In Matthew 12:40 Yeshua says “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” While even children can see that you can not fit three days and three nights in between Friday and Sunday, the sign continues to be ignored.

In summary, Passover is commanded of God and is to be kept as a memorial to remind us of what our Messiah did as the perfect Passover sacrifice…Easter originated with pagan worship of fertility gods and is an abomination to God. Passover is the feast that Jesus and Paul instructed Disciples of Messiah to keep…Easter is the feast that the Pope instructs his followers to keep. Our Master said the sign would be three days and three nights in the grave…–Easter fails the test…I pray that I have not offended and ask you to play the Berean.

John 4:23 “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. Acts 17:30 “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,”